


It's as Real as the Feelings I Feel

by weatherzane



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12769077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatherzane/pseuds/weatherzane
Summary: It's the 30th anniversary of Princess Bride! …That's pretty much it.





	It's as Real as the Feelings I Feel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leighbot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leighbot/gifts).



“Babe.”  
“Yeah?”  
“You know I’m only seein’ this movie because I love you, yeah?”  
“Aww. Love you too, honeybunch.”  
Zayn rolls his eyes, but Niall can see the smile he’s trying to hide. He pecks Zayn’s flushed cheek and turns back to face the front of the line. There are only three people in front of them now, and Niall could _vibrate_ , he’s so excited.  
The kid at the ticket counter looks horribly exhausted and bored. “Good evening, and welcome to World of Film. What can I do for you tonight?”  
“Two for the 30th Anniversary viewing of Princess Bride, please.” Niall grins so wide his face hurts as he watches the tickets go from the kid’s hand to his. “Thank you!”  
“My pleasure. Enjoy your film.”  
Niall grabs Zayn’s hand and yanks him to the snack bar. What would be the best snack for this momentous occasion? Soft pretzels? M&Ms? Twizzlers?  
Zayn, hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat, nudges Niall’s shoulder with his. “Hey. I’ll get popcorn and drinks. You go get us good seats?” His eyes are disgustingly fond. _Popcorn. Something traditional for a classic movie. Good decision_. Niall nods and gives Zayn a peck on the lips before sprinting into the theater.

Five rows back, smack in the middle. Best view: the screen takes up all your vision, but you can see the whole scene without moving your head. Best sound: the speakers are far away enough that they don’t make your ears bleed. Best placement: it’s halfway back, so there’s a bit more of a leg gap between the rows. Honestly, if Niall were here for any old movie, he’d pick somewhere in the back so he and Zayn could make out in peace. But this is _special_.  
It only takes Zayn a couple of minutes to make his way through the door and down their row, arms full of a gigantic box with “POP!” on it in white block letters, and an Icee bigger than his forearm.  
Zayn hands the box to Niall and keeps the Icee in his lap. “Figured you’d get hungry quicker ’cause you’re so excited. Popcorn makes you thirsty, so…” he shrugs and flicks the straw. It barely moves in the flavored ice, and he bites down on a snort.  
Niall leans in and gives Zayn the loudest, sloppiest kiss on the cheek he can manage. “I love you, darlin’.” Zayn fights it for a moment, but slips an arm around Niall’s waist and they kiss for a couple of seconds.

The theater fills up slowly but steadily; Niall had wanted to be ridiculously early, to snag The Best Seats. There were tiny little kids, just old enough to walk, with their parents and grandparents and, Niall’s pretty sure, great-grandparents. His heart melts. This movie means the world to him, and it’s so good to see that it’s able to span generations.  
Zayn takes Niall’s hand and threads their fingers together. “Glad I came,” he murmurs, bringing their hands to his mouth so he can kiss Niall’s.  
Niall smiles at him and uses his free hand to chuck Zayn under the chin. “Softie.”

The lights dim, and the movie starts. Niall immediately falls still, eyes glued to the screen. There’s Leo roaring, and those wonderful blue letters: “The Princess Bride.” Niall sighs, relaxes into his chair, nostalgia already washing over him.  
The kid had just interrupted the story to ask if this was “a kissing book” when someone sitting on the edge of the front row stands up and almost runs out of the theater. Niall worries for a moment, but then Prince Humperdinck starts talking and he’s immediately drawn back into the world.  
Since Zayn is a good boyfriend, he knows this movie almost as well as Niall does, and he takes Fezzik’s lines when it gets to the rhyming part. Niall whispers, “You have a great gift for rhyme.” And Zayn squeezes his fingers as he replies, “Yes, yes, some of the time.” Niall leans over and presses a quick, warm kiss to Zayn’s neck.  
The Cliffs of Insanity have Niall back on the edge of his seat, one knee jogging nervously even though he’s seen this at least two hundred times. His fingers absentmindedly run over and push at the tiny little tattoo Zayn had gotten on the soft inside of his wrist: “INCONCEIVABLE.”

Niall’s stomach drops after Westley’s battle with Inigo. He has to piss. They aren’t even half an hour in yet, and he has never wanted to stay put so badly in his life. His knee starts jogging again as he tries to ignore it.  
He lasts maybe ten more minutes before his bladder is actually about to give out. Vizzini falls over dead, then Niall whispers to Zayn, “Be back in a minute, babe, sorry.” He scoots to the aisle and lets himself out of the theater. He allows himself to mourn lost time for a moment as he walks out, strains to hear Buttercup marvel at Westley’s smarts as the door swings shut behind him.

Niall loathes public restrooms; they’re filthy and usually have at least one Urinal Peeping Tom. He cringes as he steps in, but it seems to be empty. Peeing has never felt so good. He zips up, briskly washes his hands, and reaches for the door handle-  
And that’s when he hears it. A stifled sob.  
Crying in a bathroom isn’t terribly unusual, he supposes. It just feels very… romcom-y? Niall peers around, and starts when he sees that one of the stall doors is thrown wide open. A mane of curly brown hair hides the guy’s face, but the floral-print shirt curled up on the ground shudders with the guy’s breathing.  
“Erm… Hello?” Niall mentally slaps his own forehead. What a good introduction. He's been in the same room as this guy for at least a couple minutes now, he could've said _something_ other than that. The floral shirt stills for a second, before teary green eyes turn to meet his. Niall’s blown by how _pretty_ this guy is, even when he’s a broken mess. …And he’s immediately ashamed of himself for being shallow.  
He gets down on his good knee next to the guy, holds eye contact. “You okay? Need anything?” The guy shakes his head, then he sniffs, loud and wet and gross. Niall reaches over and rips off a handful of toilet paper. “Here, blow your nose, it’ll feel better.” He gets a watery smile, which is an improvement. “So. I’m Niall.”  
The guy blows his nose with a sound like an elephant. He laughs, voice slow, and thick with tears. “Sorry about that. ’m Harry.” He gets his own toilet paper this time and dabs at his shiny cheeks.  
Something clicks in Niall's head then. "You were the one who…"  
Harry grimaces. "I was the one who left _Princess Bride_ ten minutes in, yeah." He squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath. "You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to, I know I’m a downer right now.”  
Niall’s already shaking his head. “I can at least stay until you’re okay. What got you so upset?”  
Harry sighs. “Princess Bride is… was… my grandpa’s favorite movie. He made sure all his kids knew about it, and I probably saw it every single time I visited him.” His lips twitch into a smile, even as fresh tears start piling up. “He was a sucker for happy endings. Guess I got that from him. And…”  
He turns his eyes to the ceiling, swallowing back more sobs. Niall rubs a hand over his mouth. “You--you don’t have to tell me…”  
“No, no, I need to get it out. Can't run from it forever. Two months ago, my grandpa died. Lung cancer.” He bites his bottom lip. Niall takes a leap of faith and reaches over to squeeze Harry’s shoulder. Mandy Patinkin’s father had died of cancer, and said his main motivation behind Inigo killing Count Rugen was so Mandy could have revenge on his own father’s unfair death.  
Harry nods, gets more toilet paper to blow his nose again. “Anyway. I heard this theater was doing an anniversary showing, and thought I would come to. Y’know. Honor him.” He runs a hand through his hair--privately, Niall wonders how his fingers don’t get caught--and heaves a huge sigh. “Couldn’t even get past the introduction of the story. Sad, huh?”  
Just as Niall’s about to disagree, the bathroom door opens. The two of them turn to see Zayn standing in the doorway, one eyebrow raised.  
Niall dips his head and murmurs, “It’s my boyfriend,” then tries to ignore the pop in his knee as he stands. “Hey, what’s up?”  
“What’s up?” Zayn stares at Niall like he’s asked him to go on a dawn hike. “You’ve missed twenty minutes of your _favorite movie ever_ , that’s what.”  
“ _Shit_ , I missed all of the Fire Swamp.” Niall stomps the dingy tile and crosses his arms. He looks up at Zayn. “Were you really that worried, babe?”  
“You have literally never missed more than two minutes of this movie before, of course I’m that worried.” His eyes slide to Harry for the first time. “Ah. Who’s this?”  
Niall feels his cheeks go that splotchy pink they do, even though he has nothing to hide. “This is Harry. He, ehm…”  
“I had to leave the movie early. Emotional distress.” Harry smiles wryly. “Niall helped me calm down again. You found an ace boyfriend.”  
Zayn gives Niall a nauseatingly fond smile. “Yeah, I know.” He looks back at Harry, takes a few steps in, and holds out a hand. “Need help gettin’ up or anything?”  
“…Who are you?” Harry’s posh accent twists just a little, mimicking Buttercup’s.  
Zayn’s eye twinkles. “I am no one to be trifled with. That is all you ever need know.” He doesn’t do Westley’s voice, which Niall makes a face at, but he’s playing along in every other sense. He sweeps his free arm in a broad arc, clearing space for Harry to move once he stands.  
Niall pouts. “Hey, if he’s Buttercup and you’re Westley, then who am I?”  
Zayn smirks. “Miracle Max.”  
“Hey! That’s not fair if you’re not Valerie! Plus, I wouldn’t even _see_ you as Westley until you were dead–”  
“ _Mostly_ dead,” Harry cuts in. Niall can see how hard Zayn is fighting back a full-body fit of laughter. Someone has corrected _Niall Horan_ on Princess Bride knowledge. Niall whaps Zayn on the shoulder, as hard as he can get away with. The brief glare is absolutely worth it.  
“Anyway,” Niall huffs, “if anyone’s Westley, it’s me.” He pokes a finger in Zayn’s chest. “ _You’re_ Inigo.”  
“Oh, so you _don’t_ want me to be with you? Make up your mind, babe.” Zayn’s almost squinting with how wide he’s smiling.  
Niall frowns. “We ride off into the sunset together! That counts, right?” He looks to Harry for support. “Right?”  
Harry tilts his head from left to right, his mouth twisted to one side, considering. “As long as I can be Buttercup. I’ve wanted to be her and have her wardrobe since I was five.” He looks from Zayn to Niall, who have both frozen. “Is… that not okay?”  
Niall steps to Harry’s side and raises his eyebrows before slowly putting his arm around Harry’s waist. “I'm not gonna complain. Zed?”  
There’s a moment of silence. Niall’s stomach churns for a second before Zayn steps up and gives Niall a long, chaste kiss. When he steps back, he’s smiling again. “Yeah, ’s okay.” He blinks slowly, looks between Niall and Harry. “Well, Harry, you okay goin’ back in? Niall and I wanna finish the movie.”  
Harry chews on his lip, then nods. “Is there a free seat by the two of you? I think I’d feel better if I wasn’t alone.”  
“Yeah, ’course! C’mon, Buttercup,” Niall opens the bathroom door for Harry, who looks like he _floats_ out. Niall winks as Zayn walks by, and swings a palm to slap Zayn’s ass. He yelps. It’s wonderful.  
“Hey, now, Westley doesn’t flirt with Inigo, does he?”  
Niall shrugs, grins fit to burst. “We’re just playing the roles, we don’t have to follow the script.”  
Zayn raises his eyebrows, thinks for a second, and nods. He loops an arm behind Niall to cop a feel on their way back to the theater. “We’ll probably make it for the wedding crash scene.”  
Niall leans his head against Zayn’s shoulder. “Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togevah today.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my contribution to Zarriall Week! I wrote for leighbot--iamleighbot on tumblr--and I apologize in advance for how dinky it is. (And for being a day late. Life complications.) Niall isn't a Princess Bride fanatic, but I am, and one of leighbot's requests was "walk in on someone crying in the bathroom and try to comfort the stranger," so… I hope this is okay?
> 
> Enjoy and all that!


End file.
